Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Heritage Commerce from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $12.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Heritage Commerce from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Heritage Commerce from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $14.50 price objective on shares of Heritage Commerce in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Heritage Commerce in a report on Monday, January 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Heritage Commerce currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.25.

Heritage Commerce Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of HTBK opened at $13.37 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.78. The stock has a market cap of $823.46 million, a PE ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 0.69. Heritage Commerce has a 12 month low of $8.11 and a 12 month high of $13.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ:HTBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.05. Heritage Commerce had a return on equity of 8.07% and a net margin of 17.77%.The company had revenue of $104.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.78 million. Equities analysts forecast that Heritage Commerce will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heritage Commerce Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 25th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 25th. Heritage Commerce’s dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heritage Commerce

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,121,000. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 231.1% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 64,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 45,350 shares in the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 795,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,896,000 after purchasing an additional 183,005 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Heritage Commerce in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,010,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Heritage Commerce by 92.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 90,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $894,000 after purchasing an additional 43,212 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.55% of the company’s stock.

Heritage Commerce Company Profile

Heritage Commerce Corporation, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, is the bank holding company for Heritage Bank, N.A., a community-oriented financial institution. Traded on NASDAQ under the symbol HTBK, the company focuses on delivering tailored banking services to businesses, professionals and individuals throughout Southeastern Michigan.

Heritage Bank, N.A. offers a comprehensive portfolio of deposit and lending products designed to meet the needs of commercial and consumer clients.